driving: Kansas City to Orlando

[bethinks2]

Any suggestions from those who have made this trip? We will be leaving KC on 12/30 and returning on 1/5. I would much rather fly but DH wants to justify our purchase of a new Suburban! We haven't decided if we will drive straight through or stop. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[missytiffy]

Well, I drove this before with my neices and since I was much younger and they weren't my kids-my opinion might not be too helpful. I am now a mom to a toddler, and I do admire your willingness to drive. How old are your kids?

When we went we stopped in Chatanooga TN and stayed at the Chatanooga Choo Choo Hotel (back then it was a Holiday Inn..who knows now) . It was pretty neat and the kids had fun there. It was a good break for all of us. The kids swam, burned off energy, we took showers, had a nice meal and then got on the road again quickly the next morning.

I am sure you will be getting a VCR or DVD for the vehicle--that really helps. You can get on NetFlix.com and rent them for a long period of time. Better than late fees at Blockbuster.

You gotta love the Suburban--we only have one child and I drive a Yukon Denali. We have plenty of room, my husband still has trouble justifying that purchase as well. We are flying in October to Disney and got fares for $144 pp roundtrip/non-stop. I know we would spend that each way on gas in my vehicle!! Have a safe trip and best of luck!!

 

[Buckleybunch]

I agree with bethinks2 - stop in Chattonga. I'm from Omaha area, and that's just about 1/2 way for us. It's not bad of a drive, I have drove it several times ( because I have 4 kids and it cost to much to fly). I would like to know where Bethinks2 got those awesome airfare rates from. Hubby and I are flying from KC next Thursday and the best rate I found out of KC was 360 for the two of us. And we have a long lay over in St Louis

 

[bethinks2]

Thanks for the tips, especially the NetFlix tip--it's not a trip to Blockbuster if I don't owe them for late fees! My kids: dd is 16 and ds will be just turning 11. My dd is driving down sooner with her high school drill team. They are marching in the Capitol One Bowl parade and will be down there from Dec. 28th until Jan. 1st. The rest of the family is meeting her down there and then (hopefully--haven't convinced the hubby yet) will take a 3 day cruise Jan. 2nd. I agree your airfare is great-I called and it was over 200.00 per person. I still am trying to convince hubby to just fly and get it over with. I even told him today that it will cost more to drive because I will have to get a dvd player installed! You should of seen his face! Thanks again! BTW: The high school group is driving through Atlanta, that is where they are changing drivers. I guess there are some different ways to get there though when I drove with my family;as a kid; we also went through Tennessee and stopped in New Orleans. I guess that means we will have another decision to make!

 

[Rxchalk]

We drove from Kansas City to Orlando last year. After figuring the cost of gas, food, and hotel stays it was over $500 round trip. Lets not forget about the wear and tear on the car also. This year we are flying. We got a deal on Southwest for $160 round trip per person. I would rather spend more time in disney then spending it driving. It not a bad drive though.

 

[DISFANS3]

WE live in Nixa Mo south of Spfd. WE took the big drive in June, drive was not bad, did this in two days. Took two weeks for this trip, had lots of time.. Our next trip to WDW will be in March, I am looking for air out of KCI, Hope Southwest has a good fare???? No chance of going out of SPFD, to many $$$$.....

 

[Padre Disney]

bethinks2,
We are from West Des Moines and made the drive straight through this past March in our suburban. We have four kids (17, 15, 13,11) so we can never find airfare that is cheaper then the drive.
We loved the drive. We left WDM around 6:30 p.m and arrived near the Orlando airport around 7:00 p.m. The 2 of us took turns driving. We did get tired around Kentucky and took a 30 minute snooze. We have 2 other little cars and there is nothing like the ride you get when you are in a suburban. This is our second one and can't figure out what I will do when all the kids are grown and gone and we won't really need a suburban anynore.
2 of the kids have a real hard time flying because it hurts their ears so much. So they all usually pick driving over flying.
We will be making the drive again March 2004 and are taking my DH parents so we will be stopping over night.

Do not forget the dvd player and plenty of dvd's

DISFAN3,
We held out this past March wanting to get my in-laws cheaper SWA tickets out of KC or OMA with no luck. When SWA opened up the March dates they would not let you fly to Florida in the month of March for the cheaper fare. Ended up paying around $400 buck a ticket for 3 tickets out of DSM. YIKES! Thats why we drive.
However we did just get tickets out of Kc for our 10/2 cruise for about 150 each round trip NON stop on SWA.

 

[TIdoublegaER]

We stop for the night in Atlanta (Marietta, actually). On the way back, we stop in Paducah, KY. We will actually be down there the same time as you, although we are flying. Just bought our tickets - $186 r/t on Delta. SWA usually has some decent fares too and most of those are n/s.

 

[TIdoublegaER]

DISFANS3 - Have you considered looking at fares out of Tulsa as well? My sister lives in Springfield and she flys out of Tulsa occasionally. It's a shorter drive than the one to KC too.

 

[DISFANS3]

Tidoublegaer- We fly out of Tulsa also, No chance for Spfd, I don't even check the rates any more....

 

[crazyforgoofy]

the drive is fine and fun. We've done it several times from KC. We drive at least to Mid-Tenn the first day, then into Orlando the next day. But we usually have more time in Orlando that you have planned. I'm concerned you'll spend most of your vacation driving. I suggest you watch all the outlets for sales (all the airlines and all the travel sites), those prices move up and down like crazy. Or consider adding a few days onto your trip!

Just my opinion, have fun whatever you do.